The Yorkshire Journal, Volume 1, 2018 Scarborough Railway Seaside Holiday Posters Including a brief history of Scarborough through the posters By Stephen Riley A LNER Railway poster of Scarborough Spa by Fred Taylor with the caption ‘It’s Quicker by Rail’ issued in 1939 Scarborough Railway Seaside Holiday Posters Including a brief history of Scarborough through the posters By Stephen Riley In my last article ‘Flamborough Railway Seaside Holiday Posters’, T,Y.J Winter 2017, we slightly backtracked from Filey to Flamborough to take in North Landing at Flamborough Head. Now taking the train from Bempton railway station (Flamborough railway station, originally named Marton, closed on the 5th January 1970) on the Hull Scarborough line, also known as the Yorkshire Coast line built in 1845, we travels past Speeton railway station which opened on 20th October 1847 and closed on 5th January 1970. The station building and the adjacent platform are still in place. Then on to Humanby and Filey both railway stations are still open today. Left: Map showing the Yorkshire Coast Line, white circles represent closed stations Above: Speeton railway station and the adjacent platform, it closed on 5th January 1970. Photo by Nigel Thompson From Filey the railway line winds its way around the stations of Gristhorpe, Cayton, Seamer, Londesborough Road terminating at Scarborough. The Gristhorpe railway station opened on 5th October 1846 and closed on 16th February 1959. Cayton railway station opened on 5th October 1846 and closed on 5th May 1952. Like Gristhorpe, the former station house remains standing as a private house. Left: The Gristhorpe railway station closed on 16th February 1959, it is now a private house Photo by Nigel Thompson Right: Cayton railway station closed on 5th May 1952. The station house is now a private house Photo by John Thurston 50 THE YORKSHIRE JOURNAL 2018 The Londesborough Road Station was originally Washbeck Station which opened on 8th June 1908. It was an excursion station built half a mile before the Scarborough terminus owing to the influx of passengers to the town during the holiday season that Scarborough Station could not cope with. The station was upgraded on 1st June 1933 and was named Scarborough Londesborough Road and Scarborough Station was renamed Scarborough Central. The Londesborough Road Station allowed trains to Whitby to be served directly via the Falsgrave tunnel. It closed on 24th August 1963 and continued to be used for stabling coaches until 1966 when the station was taken over by a local boat building company and used for winter berths. Left: A train arriving at Washbeck Excursion Station in 1913. Many passengers can be seen alighting and making their way out. The station was not renamed Scarborough Londesborough Road until 1933 Photo by Alfred Hind Robinson Below: A map with a blue arrow pointing out the Londesborough Road station The Scarborough railway station, formerly Scarborough Central opened on Monday 7th July 1845, following the completion of the line from York to Scarborough which opened on 8th July 1845. Seamer station was opened on 8th July 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway, it was initially a stop on the York to Scarborough line and became a junction station when a branch line to Filey was opened the following year on 5th October 1846 and the final link from Bridlington to Filey opened on 20th October the same year. The section from Seamer to Scarborough was part of the Y&NMR’s York to Scarborough Line. A second line from Seamer station called the Forge Valley Line to Pickering was opened by the North Eastern Railway (NER) on 1st May 1882. This line was closed in June 1950, the track was lifted and the platform demolished. In 1854 the line passed into the hands of the North Eastern Railway (NER), and in 1923 to the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). In 1948 the railways were nationalised forming British Railways (BR) and as of 2018 trains on the line are operated by Northern Rail. Right: Seamer Station looking south. Photo by Ben Brooksbank Left: Map showing Seamer Station the York to Scarborough line and the branch line to Filey. The closed Forge Valley Line and Whitby line SCARBOROUGH RAILWAY SEASIDE HOLIDAY POSTERS 51 Left: Postcard of Scarborough Railway Station dated around 1912. It shows a view down Westborough with the station on the right with the lead-topped station clock tower that was added in about 1882. A horse and cart has just entered the station forecourt to collect passengers. The large imposing building in the centre is the Pavilion Hotel. It was built in 1870 and in 1973 it was demolished. On Westborough road outside the station is a double decker open top tram and in the distance to the left on the hill can be seen the ruins of Scarborough Castle Scarborough railway station was designed by George Townsend Andrews who was the York and North Midland Railway architect, he designed stations and other buildings on the line. The original main station had a 348 foot long wrought iron and glazed roof that stood 30 feet over the tracks. Its span was 88 feet, and it was a magnificent sight. Facilities included a large airy central booking office, superintendent room, 1st and 2nd class waiting rooms, a reminder of the sharp class divisions that were much in evidence in the Victorian era, and a Ladies waiting room, toilets, porters room, storeroom and a refreshment room. Above the refreshment room was originally the station master’s house, but later became the station hotel with ten bedrooms available for weary travellers, or those who needed to be up early for the morning train. Right: Inside Scarborough station in 1898 looking down the end of the platform showing ornate gas lighting. The wrought iron and glazed roof can be seen in the photo. On the left side are waiting rooms and the clock in the far distance is above the entrance and exit At first there were two platforms connected at the north end, with four tracks in-between, each track having a pair of turntables, one at each end of the platforms. Gradually as traffic increased modifications were made to the station layout. In 1883 two new platforms were added to accommodate excursion traffic. The lead- topped station clock tower was added in about 1882 which dominates the skyline, providing a landmark of the town. It was built by Potts of Leeds and cost £110 an equivalent to about £10,251 in today’s money. Scarborough station also served the Whitby line until it was closed by the Beeching Report in March 1965 and the Forge Valley Line to Pickering until 1950. By the early 1980s, regular use of platforms 6-9 had declined and following a simplification of the track layout in 1985, they were taken out of use and demolished. The land they occupied is now used for car & coach parking, though the overall roofs remain. Along the excursion station platform is a stone retaining wall topped by iron railings. Built into this stone wall is a continuous wooden bench that runs the length of the wall for 456 feet (139 metres) and is said to be the longest railway seat in the world. The seat and back are of wood planks painted blue the fittings and branch-shaped arm rests set at regular intervals are of cast iron and painted black. Left: The blue railway seat running along the stone retaining wall 52 THE YORKSHIRE JOURNAL 2018 The Grand Opening The York Scarborough line was built by George Hudson (1800-1871) ‘the Railway King’, who was the chairman of the York and North Midland Railway. The line was constructed remarkably quickly by the standards of the time, taking just one year and three days to complete the 42 mile route. The opening day was on Monday 7th July 1845 with much rejoicing and great pomp and ceremony. About two hundred and fifty guests sat down to a sumptuous breakfast at the Guildhall in York, after which George Hudson took them on the first train made up of about 35 first class carriages hauled by two engines called ‘Hudson’ and ‘Lion’ leaving York station. The journey to Scarborough took three and a half hours stopping at Castle Howard, (closed to passenger traffic on 22nd September 1930 but continued to be staffed until the 1950s for small volumes of freight and parcels, the station is now a private house) Malton and Ganton (in order to speed up traffic on the line Ganton railway station was closed to passenger traffic on 22nd September 1930, and was finally closed to goods traffic in 1964). On arriving at Scarborough the train was greeted by ten to fifteen thousand spectators the day apparently being observed as a general holiday with all the shops closed, and there was much excitement. In Scarborough the guests were treated to a lunch before returning to York where a dinner was held in the Guildhall hosted by the Lord Mayor of York. George Stephenson remarked ‘that it was on the subject of the railway from York to Scarborough that I first met Mr. Hudson’. Another report of the opening of the line states, ‘At present the Scarbro’ railway only consists of a single line of rails, but it is intended ultimately to lay down an additional line’. Left: George Hudson called ‘the Railway King’ 1800-1871 Scarborough remains the terminus and the most northern stop on the Yorkshire Coast line, which runs from Hull to Scarborough. Since its opening, Scarborough station has continued to provide a regular and reliable service and recently the station has been upgraded and is a Grade II* listed building.